The Right Honourable Violet Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Violet Crawley (played by Maggie Smith) is Robert Crawley's and Rosumund Painswick Violet was born in the 1840s to a baronet and has one sister, Roberta, who loaded the guns at the Siege of Lucknow in 1857. Violet also has a nephew, called Shrimpy, who is the Marquess of Flintshire, and a niece Susan, who is Shrimpy's wife. In the 1860s, She was pursued by Lord Hepworth of Hatton Park. She is immensely proud of her son. Once her nephew James, the heir to Downton, and James's son Patrick both die on the Titanic, and her granddaughter Mary seemingly loses her chance to marry the heir, she favors Mary over Matthew Crawley, the new heir, and would prefer that the entail be broken so that Mary can inherit the estate if not the title. Matthew does not meet Violet's standards as he belongs to the upper-middle and professional class rather than to the nobility. Unlike her son, Violet refuses to accept the alteration of Mary's prospects, which causes her to form a new alliance with her daughter-in-law, Cora. When the two countesses realise that Matthew will remain heir to the Grantham title and Cora's fortune, part of the estate since her marriage settlement, they shift their focus to getting Mary to marry Matthew. The urgency for marriage is heightened when Violet learns of a rumor that Mary slept with Kemal Pamuk, a Turkish house guest. She is shocked to discover that the rumor is true and again urges Cora to get Mary and Matthew married. Violet has a tendency to quarrel with Isobel Crawley, Matthew's mother. As president of the Downton Hospital, Violet had complete control over the hospital and its lead doctor, Richard Clarkson. A trained nurse and physician's widow, Mrs Crawley begins to push the doctor into pursuing modern medical practices, such as administering adrenaline to cure dropsy in a local farmer, despite Violet's protests. She pursues Isobel and Clarkson into the operation room, where she witnesses the farmer's life being saved. In order to avoid further episodes such as this, Robert appoints Isobel Chairman of the Board, forcing Violet to share power. Moreover, during the Downton Village Flower Show, Isobel learns that Violet is the perennial winner of the Best Bloom in the Village Award. She believes that the Dowager Countess wins out of intimidation, unfairly excluding skilled gardener William Molesley, father of her butler. Isobel and Violet bicker as usual, and Robert, Cora, and Mary all side with Isobel. Violet prepares to announce herself as the winner but has a sudden crisis of conscience, seeing William Molesley's defeated face, and instead announces him as the winner. When he thanks her for "letting him have" the award, Violet lies and says the judges decided that he was the winner, confusing Cora, who was on the judging panel. In 1913, it seems that Violet's hopes are reaching fruition as Mary is to marry Matthew. However, when Cora becomes pregnant, Matthew's position as heir presumptive is thrown into question, and her Aunt Rosamund advises Mary to wait until the baby is born before agreeing to marry Matthew. Violet is opposed and advises Mary to agree to marriage, using the logic that agreeing to marry a man when his whole future is at stake would make him love her forever. She tells Mary had she has the option to change her mind if the baby is a boy and Matthew loses his position as heir. Unfortunately, Cora miscarries after slipping in the bathroom. Mary, having taken Rosamond's advice, alienates Matthew, leaving Violet to agree with Isobel Crawley for the first time. Throughout the Great War, Violet remains a strong influence at Downton Abbey. On the day of a Benefit Concert, she learns from Isobel that Matthew, now a captain in the army, is engaged to Lavinia Swire. Violet observes this match with distaste, as she still hopes, along with Robert, Cora, and (to some degree) Isobel, that Matthew and Mary will end up together. She also dislikes Sir Richard Carlisle, a newspaper tycoon in whom Mary takes a romantic interest. Violet and Rosamund scheme to intimidate Lavinia out of her engagement with Matthew. They are spurred to action when Rosamund overhears Sir Richard threatening Lavinia in the gardens. Mary discovers that Lavinia, to protect her father, was blackmailed into helping Sir Richard start a political scandal and is terrified of him. She refuses to use this information to destroy Lavinia, comparing the situation to hers with Kemal Pamuk, and Rosamund and Violet are defeated. When Isobel suggests to Cora that Downton Abbey can be used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, Violet reacts with horror and disgust at the prospect of unknown men living in the house. Cora coldly reminds Violet that she is no longer the Countess of Grantham and says that she will make the decision s regarding the house. Lady Sybil accuses Violet of not being able to communicate between social classes, prompting her grandmother to protest that she and Carson the butler always have the first dance at the ser vants' ball. While Downton is used as a convalescent hospital, Violet is present at a concert that Mary and Edith stage for the soldiers when Matthew and William the footman suddenly appear after having been missing-in-action. Mary sings, If You Were the Only Girl in the World, and Violet is the only audience member who refuses to sing along. When it becomes apparent that William has been critically wounded, Violet, backed by Edith and William's father, go against the physician, Major Clarkson, and other officials in order to bring him back to Downton so he can die comfortably. Violet then forces the local vicar to marry William and Daisy Robinson while the soldier is on his deathbed. Violet, Edith, and the entire downstairs staff attend the wedding. He dies six hours later. When a badly burned officer named Patrick Gordon comes to Downton to recover and claims to be Patrick Crawley, who allegedly survived the sinking of the Titanic, Violet reacts with indignation, having grown used to Matthew, though he has suffered a spinal cord injury, is confined to a wheelchair, and has been told that he will not walk again or be able to father children. As the war ends and Isobel is pushing for Downton to remain a hospital. Violet and Cora, who want life to return to normal, manage to convince her that refugees left displaced and disadvantaged by the war need her help more. Shortly thereafter, Sybil makes it clear that she intends to enter into a "scandalous" marriage with Tom Branson, the family chauffeur. When Robert and Violet cannot talk her out of it, Violet decides to minimise the damage by making up details about Branson that would make the marriage seem more acceptable to other members of the aristocracy.